Box Scores, Jan. 18-24 – “Loving the Competition, Cardboard Pizza & More”
Well, in a week where we conducted our usual Deep Bench business and also managed to launch a website for a conference we couldn’t be more excited about (the OTA Sessions, if you haven’t seen it yet), things got pretty hectic. But hectic usually equals fun as far as we’re concerned. And, to prove that it wasn’t too hectic, we managed to pull together some great posts from last week into today’s Box Scores. Read up, get smarter, and get excited. It’s a great day to be alive.
-“Four Reasons to Love Your Competition”
The folks from Men With Pens come at us first with a post to get you revved up for success this week. Although the post is intended for bloggers, a good business owner could (and should) put all of these concepts to good use. Before you complain about your competition or get mad when they seem to copy a new strategy or idea, think about these thoughts from Men With Pens and remember that competition isn’t always a bad thing.
Future OTA Sessions speaker Spike Jones drops some insight on us courtesy of the Brains On Fire blog. The point is to know what you do or don’t do as a company and then do (or don’t do) those things well. As Spike puts it, “‘Like’ is not a Brains on Fire word. We want people to love you or hate you. Those are powerful emotions. ‘Like’ is a deathtrap.” (his emphasis…with good reason). The question is, does who you are NOT inspire love or hate? If not, maybe it should.
-“Getting Started: Brands and Cause Marketing”
Lauren Fernandez is the kind of bright, young individual you read about in dozens of posts about talented, up-and-coming professionals. Oh wait. She’s not “that kind” of person. She is that person. This post from her blog emphasizes a point that, though important in marketing, seems to be a rare point of discussion in the blogosphere. Cause marketing is important. Brands can use it so well if they just know what they’re doing. Here’s her much-needed insight on how you can start to know what you’re doing with cause marketing (and why it will help your brand).
-“Can Dominos Turn Around Their Cardboard Reputation?”
Rohit Bhargava takes a good look at Dominos Pizza’s recent (and very drastic) pizza recipe reformation and the marketing/PR efforts that have gone along with this revamp. From a poignant and sincere video describing the change and what it’s meant to the Domino’s team to a microsite featuring Twitter updates that include good AND bad reviews of the new pizza formula, Rohit praises the effort Domino’s is putting forward. Read the post and see why their effort goes far beyond a simple pizza recipe change (and why it might help your brand to REALLY listen to consumers).
And with that, we wrap up another week of Deep Bench Box Scores. While we feel these are some great posts from the past week, we’re also all about hearing from you, the reader. So drop us a line in the comments below to let us know what you think, and, while you’re at it, you can add a link or two for posts YOU found particularly helpful or insightful last week. Or, drop us a line over on our Facebook page and we can talk with you there.
Hope you enjoyed Box Scores! Check back next week for more (or subscribe to our RSS feed here for all of our Deep Bench content) and don’t forget to check out the OTA Sessions site for more info on that event. You won’t regret it.
Photo (“Experimental Pizza Delivery Car”) via John Lloyd. Thanks John!